Nashua woman acts as link for Watertown residents

By BILL SMITHNew Hampshire Union LeaderApril 20. 2013 3:14AMNASHUA - A Nashua resident who is involved with social service programs in Watertown, Mass., says many of the seniors she has befriended in that community live by themselves and were eager for information while confined to their homes during the hunt for the suspected Boston Marathon bomber.

Watertown was the focal point in the search for the two suspected bombers who apparently sought refuge in the town, which borders both Boston and Cambridge.

The town has a large population of Armenian immigrants.

Sorya Taylor of Nashua, herself an Armenian immigrant, hosts a weekly luncheon for Armenian seniors in Watertown each week.

"Everybody is stuck in their houses and if they had a doctor to visit or hospital to go to, they couldn't go because of what they said that everyone has to stay in until they finish the job," Taylor said Friday.

Taylor spent much of the day responding to inquiries in her role as an English-speaking link to the world.

"These are lot of elderly citizens, retired people, so they don't have much," Taylor said. "Unfortunately they don't know anything, whatever you hear on the news, that's it."

A friend said Taylor spent much of Friday taking calls from people, some seeking information, while others, knowing of Taylor's frequent visits to Watertown, called to make sure that she was alright, and not caught up in the gunfire and police searches.

While concerned about how the Watertown seniors she works with were faring, Taylor said the victims of the bombing have not been far from her mind.

"I feel really, really sad and hurt and think of their mothers and the way they feel," she said. "I cannot imagine, really, why they have to hurt innocent people."